Let’s see what Jesus had to say about marriage. Did you know that it was always men who asked Jesus about marriage and divorce? From their questions, it seems that they were not interested in learning how to improve their marriages. Women never asked Jesus about marriage or divorce.

Look at Mark 10:2, Some Pharisees came and tested him by asking, “Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife?” Jesus answered them by saying that Moses permitted divorce because of the hardness of their hearts. He also said that they completely misunderstood marriage. Jesus said that marriage was to be between a man and his wife. The husband would leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two would become one flesh. It appeared that these men were more interested in getting out of a marriage than in keeping a marriage.

Then Jesus walked away and went into a house as if the conversation was over.

But his disciples were interested this time. They wanted to hear the rest of the story. So they asked him about it.

You can almost hear Jesus sigh. You can almost see him shake his head. Because what he is going to say is not what they want to hear. Remember it was men who were asking about divorce.

Jesus told them that if any man divorced his wife and married another woman, that he commits adultery against his first wife. Jesus put the blame on the man. He blamed him because of his sin and because he caused his wife to sin. Then Jesus brings in equality. He says that, “you men think you are the only ones who can divorce your spouse. But I tell you that the woman can divorce you, and if she does, and if she married another man, she commits adultery.” Against who? Against her first husband, just as the man commits adultery against his first wife.

Equality. What is sauce for the goose is sauce for the gander.

I love this passage even though it is difficult. It appears to be very hard against divorce, but it is actually hard against those who seek to rid themselves of their spouses. I believe that divorce is the only solution for many marriages. There are a bunch of men that I would have divorced if I had been unfortunate enough to marry them, and I am sure they would say likewise.

What I like is that Jesus tells men that woman can divorce them, too, and cause them to commit adultery. Women who divorce their husbands make them guilty of adultery, just like women themselves have been made guilty of adultery by their husbands. Now that is a new wrinkle! They had never considered that they, if they happened to be innocent, could be tagged with adultery. I do not know how these men could commit adultery when their law already allowed polygamy. There is a lot of mystery here in this scripture. I do not understand everything, or maybe I don’t even understand very much about it. But this is one of my favorite Scriptures on Equality spoken by Jesus.

Women never asked about marriage and divorce, but Jesus gave women equality in it anyway. If you think your church should do the same, tell them so.

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